Seafood Noodle Salad

I made like five pounds of this stuff. Why did I do that? I mean, I love it... it's one of my favorite dishes. And I've been craving it for months. But even I can't eat this much. And it's sort of a hard thing to give away, what with the seafood factor. Hmm. So yeah, fair warning: the recipe below yields a HUGE amount. Like, take-to-a-Mormon-potluck amount. Tip: Get all ingredients as dry as you can before adding to the bowl. Towel off the veggies after rinsing, and press the shrimp a bit.

Seafood Noodle Salad

~2 cups mayonnaise (Best Foods, pref)

~2/3 cup sour cream

zest of two lemons

1-2 TB fresh lemon juice

pepper, paprika, white pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste

tons of dill (fresh would be awesome)

salt (not much as shrimp, krab, and olives will add saltiness)

half a small red onion, diced fine (taste and soak in water 1 hour if too strong)

1 lb small or medium shell pasta

3 celery ribs, chopped 

2-3 red bell peppers, chopped

3/4 lb salad shrimp, thawed and drained

3/4 lb imitation crab meat (krab), pulled into small pieces

1 10-oz jar green olives, sliced

Combine dressing ingredients in large bowl and refrigerate. Cook pasta in salty water to desired doneness, drain, soak in 2-3 rounds of cold water until at least room temp. Drain well, spread over four paper towels to dry. Meanwhile, chop celery and peppers and slice olives. When pasta is reasonably dry, taste dressing and make adjustments as desired (all flavors but salt should be quite strong). Stir pasta, celery, and peppers into dressing. Stir in shrimp and krab, then gently fold in olives. 

SALMON.

I LOVE IT.

IT LOVES ME.

THE END.

The Good Earth.

I went a bit mad at the grocery store yesterday. 

Last semester I was too poor to meet my usual fruit-and-veg-quota, and the knowledge that that won't be a problem this semester just sort of welled up and overwhelmed me last night at Broulims. 

I bought: broccoli, cauliflower, apples, oranges, tomatoes, garlic, scallions, potatoes, cucumbers, spinach, carrots, parsley, cilantro, lemons, and onions. I wanted to get squash, zucchini, mushrooms, celery, parsnips, turnips, Brussels sprouts, pears, avocados, and bell peppers, too... but it's a little early to be making my new roommates hate me. And, believe it or not, even I am limited as to the amount of produce I can throw back before it spoils.

Here's what I had for lunch/dinner:

I broke in my mini food processor (Christmas pressie) with a batch of hummus. And discovered that roasted broccoli and carrots are THE BEST EVER VEHICLES FOR HUMMUS. How have I never thought of this before? For protein's sake I also ate a boiled egg as I was cooking. Too bad I was so hungry; it woulda looked good on the plate.

Discovery!

Check it out check it out check it out check it out.  --Strongbad

We picked mass quantities of blueberries last summer and froze them. Over Christmas, I discovered that if you combine frozen blueberries and milk, the milk will clump into a soft freeze around the berries, which thaw quickly into juicy, slushy goodness. It's almost as good as ice cream! 

Frozen Blueberries in Sweet Milk

1/2 cup milk (whole probably works and tastes best)

1/2 TB sugar

pinch of cinnamon

1/2 cup frozen blueberries

Pour milk into small bowl, mix in sugar and cinnamon, and add blueberries, submerging them as much as possible. Let sit about 30 seconds, then give a few gentle stirs to coat blueberries. Eat!

Also, look at the pretty Christmas cookies we made! Chocolate-walnut squares, pine nut tassies, and lemon curd macaroons!

Ginger-Pear Upside Down Cake

Notes: 

Uh, YUM. Highly recommended. I was surprised how well the pears' shape and flavor survived baking; I rather expected them to disappear into a bland mush. 

I made double the pear topping, 1.5 x the batter, and baked two 9-inch cakes, dropping about a cup of partly-baked cherry cheesecake chunks (leftover from Epic Cake) into one pan. This filled both pans (with a little batter still left over) so full they aaalmost overflowed in the oven. All this is to say that I don't know exactly how full the following recipe will fill one 9-inch cake pan. Pretty darn full, I would guess. And if you want to make two cakes, I think the cake recipe x 1.5 will give you enough. The good news is, even if the sides ooze over a bit, don't worry about the edges getting very brown and crisp; after unmolding, the cake's moisture will redistribute, making those edges nice and soft again. 

 

The cherries added tartness, which was a very nice touch. I'm ambivalent about the cheesecake, though -- it's good, but probably not worth the effort unless you happen to have some lying around (as I did). 

Ginger-Pear Upside Down Cake

TOPPING:

2 TB sliced almonds (optional)

2 anjou pears, barely ripe, sliced into circles, seeds poked out 

   (core will soften)

1 1/2 TB fresh lemon juice

2 TB candied ginger, finely diced 

   (or use 1 TB fresh grated ginger and add a little extra brown sugar)

4 TB butter, melted

1/3 cup brown sugar

CAKE:

2 1/4 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp ground ginger 

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp allspice

1 tsp cocoa powder

1 stick butter, melted and cooled to room temp

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup molasses

1 large egg

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup milk

3/4 cup dried tart cherries, reconstituted and drained (optional)

Mix dry cake ingredients in medium bowl and set aside. Grease and flour the sides of a 9-inch cake pan and line bottom with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Scatter almonds evenly along bottom of pan. Arrange pear slices, prettiest ones first, on top of almonds. Drizzle with lemon juice, then with butter. Sprinkle ginger and brown sugar evenly over pears. Set aside.

In large bowl, beat butter, sugar, and molasses on low speed until combined. Beat in egg. Gradually add milks and beat on slow, then medium speed for about a minute, scraping bowl as needed. Add dry ingredients and mix until combined (do not overmix).

Carefully pour batter over pears. Drop cherries into batter, if using. Bake for 35-45 minutes until tester comes out almost clean (rotate pans halfway through if you make a double batch). Cool on wire rack for five minutes, then run knife along the edge, gently invert onto flat serving dish, and remove parchment paper. Let cool at least fifteen minutes before serving. A dollop of whipped cream on the side would complete this dessert, I think.

Baklava

My friend Julie Moore and I made baklava last night. It took four hours, including a trip to the grocery store in the middle of cooking to get more phyllo dough, and we were a little hysterical by the end, but we DID IT.

Behold:

Epic Cake (recipe)

Notes: I still can't believe I pulled this off. It was very, very good. However, I do plan to make a few minor adjustments next time. The following recipe includes those changes. Scroll down to previous entry for luscious photos.

EQUIPMENT

3 9-inch cake layer pans

parchment paper

wire cooling rack

toothpicks

unflavored dental floss

large icing spatula

RECIPE

Cake:

1 German or Swiss chocolate cake mix

oil, water, and eggs as directed on box

12 oz cream cheese, cut into 1-inch squares, room temp

2/3 cup sugar

3/4 cup sour cream, room temp

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

3 eggs, room temp

1 cup dried sour cherries, reconstituted, drained

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 can evaporated milk

1 can coconut milk

Line the bottoms of two cake pans with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare cake batter according to directions. Set aside. In separate bowl, cream sugar and cream cheese on medium speed until fluffy. Beat in sour cream and vanilla. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix on medium speed about two minutes. 

Pour as much of the chocolate batter into one cake pan as you think will fit without spilling over (aim for at least 3/4 of it). Pour remaining chocolate batter evenly into second cake pan. Pour cheesecake batter directly into center of pan, so that chocolate batter is pushed out on all sides, rimming the perimeter as evenly as possible. Drop cherries on top of cheesecake batter (they'll sink). The cheesecake won't rise much, or dome on top, so don't worry about the pan being full. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, checking both cakes for doneness at 30 minutes. My plain chocolate cake was done at 30 minutes; the cheesecake layer took another 8 minutes or so. But I'm at high elevation and our oven is old and senile, so... just keep an eye on them. 

Meanwhile, whisk together sweetened condensed, evaporated, and coconut milk. (You'll only be using half of it at most, so start thinking of ways to use the excess.)

Cool cakes in pans on wire rack for at least 45 minutes, then unmold cheesecake onto flat plate, bring to room temp, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.  Pierce chocolate cake layer about 50 times with toothpick, then pour milk mixture over cake, let it soak in, and repeat until cake is saturated. Cover and refrigerate at least 6 hours, checking once or twice to see if cake could absorb more milk. Wash and dry cheesecake pan for cherry custard phase.

Cherry Custard Filling:

2 1/2 cups pure cherry juice

3 TB fresh lemon juice

5 eggs, room temp

3 egg yolks, room temp

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp unflavored powdered gelatin

6 TB butter, cut into half-inch cubes, chilled

3 TB heavy cream

1 tsp vanilla

pinch salt

red food coloring, if desired

Set aside 1/2 cup cherry juice. Heat remaining cherry and lemon juice at a brisk simmer until reduced by half. Whisk eggs, yolks, and sugar in medium bowl. Remove juice from heat for bout 30 seconds. Pour hot juice into egg mixture, whisking constantly. Add gelatin to reserved 1/2 cup cherry juice (this should stand undisturbed about five minutes before being stirred into the custard). Return egg/sugar/juice mixture to pot and set over medium-low heat. Stir steadily with spatula until mixture thickens enough to coat spoon (about 4 minutes). Remove from heat, stir in butter until melted, then stir in gelatin mixture, cream, vanilla, salt, and food coloring, if using. Divide custard between two parchment-lined cake pans. Refrigerate, transferring to freezer at least 40 minutes before commencing cake assembly.

Ganache Toppings:

1 12 oz package semisweet chocolate chips

1 4 oz bar Lindt milk chocolate, broken into small pieces

1 pint, minus 3 TB used in custard, heavy cream

~3 oz sliced almonds, toasted

Approximately one and a half hours before commencing cake assembly, place chocolate in medium heatproof bowl. Heat cream in small pot over medium-high heat until bubbling. Pour over chocolate. Cover and let sit five minutes. Whisk until smooth, let rest one minute, whisk again for one minute to fully emulsify. Pour a little more than half of ganache into separate container; cover and refrigerate both. After about an hour, remove smaller portion in original medium bowl and beat with electric mixer first on low, then medium speed until medium-stiff peaks form (took about five minutes for me). Set aside or refrigerate, whichever will make frosting easier for you.

CAKE ASSEMBLY

Invert soaked chocolate cake out of pan onto flat plate. Cut in half with dental floss. Place bottom half on cake platter. Run bottom of frozen custard pan under hot water for about 30 seconds, then tap frozen custard layer out of pan, invert onto first cake layer, remove paper. Place cheesecake layer upside-down on top of custard. Remove second frozen custard layer and place on top of cheesecake. Place domed second half of soaked chocolate cake on top. Frost cake with whipped ganache, thickly on sides and thinly on top. Press cooled toasted almond slices into sides. Cover and refrigerate for 20 minutes or so. Check unwhipped ganache; refrigerate longer or warm up to achieve desired consistency. Pour unwhipped ganache over top of cake, spreading and letting drip down sides as desired. Decorate top with almonds as desired. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours to allow custard to thaw.

Slice, serve, and ENJOY.